


Like A Stranger

by courtneyinthetardis



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Amnesia, Doctor Whump, Some sweetness mixed with angst basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtneyinthetardis/pseuds/courtneyinthetardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doctor Who AU in which the Doctor represses Donna's Time Lord mind and she continues to travel with him. When the Doctor obtains a serious head injury, he suffers from amnesia. Now, it's up to Donna and a few other familiar faces to help the Doctor find himself again. A story that will test Donna's limits and will show just how far she's willing to go to get her best friend back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like A Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: It feels so weird to post on here! I'm so used to ff.net. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. :)

He had once told her that living in the TARDIS was a funny old life, and until today she hadn’t really taken his words into consideration. Looking down at the Doctor’s sleeping form she couldn’t help but agree with him. The way Donna saw it, life was all about giving and taking; it either did one or the other. Right now life was giving her the latter. 

Placing her hand on top of the Doctor’s she lightly rubbed her thumb under his palm. He’d been unconscious for hours and it was really starting to worry her. They’d been visiting a planet called Vlexar earlier that day, and of course the Doctor landed them in the wrong year and smack dab in the middle of a war. But, the Doctor, being the Doctor, couldn’t just leave until he tried to help them achieve peace. They’d went to meet with those in charge of the opposing sides and Donna thought it was going quite well until fighting started breaking out again amongst the troops. Before they knew it, laser beams and bombs clashed around them and Donna had gotten separated from the Doctor.

She shivered as she recalled the memory of the Doctor desperately calling out her name over the chaos. The dust was so thick and she was certain she still had residue in her throat and lungs and the air around her had been so dry. She couldn’t help removing her hand from the Doctor’s to rub her throat. She could definitely use some water. She felt guilt wash over herself as she got up out of the armchair next to the bed to leave the room. Taking one last glance behind her she decided that he would be fine on his own for just a few minutes; he didn’t look close to stirring. 

She walked downstairs and almost collided with Wilf as she entered the kitchen. She felt water slosh over the front of her blouse and realized that her grandad had been on his way upstairs with water for her and the Doctor. She gave the older man a crooked smile and walked past him to retrieve a cloth to clean up the mess with. She was overjoyed that her mother hadn’t been home when she showed up on their doorstep with the Doctor slumped against her. 

“You wanna tell me what happened?” Wilf asked her, offering her a seat at the kitchen table. 

She eyed the offering for a moment, not wanting to get too comfy as she needed to get back to the Doctor. But looking at her grandad’s worried face she relented and sat next to him. 

“Well, it’s like I told you before, the Doctor and I were at Vlexar,” she began, “and there was a war going on. We tried to stop it Gramps, but no one wanted to listen. They were all too caught up in their hatred for each other. The Doctor and I were running for our lives and before I knew what was happening I lost grip of the Doctor’s hand. I searched for him for what felt like years. When I finally caught sight of him I was so happy that I could have cried; but then I saw his face. He looked so scared, I’d never seen him look so terrified before. Suddenly he was running at me at full speed and before I could ask him what he was doing he dragged me by the arm and started running.”

“What did he see?” Wilf asked; perplexed.

“Some sort of bomb had been thrown my way. I’m guessing it had a slight delay because we got a somewhat decent distance away before it went off.”

“Oh my stars,” Wilf’s eyes became misty, “what happened next?”

“Well, in the last few seconds before the bomb went off he practically threw me as far out of the way as he could. Then the bomb went off and everything became silent. If it weren’t for the ringing in my head that went along with the silence I’d had thought I had died. As soon as I got my bearings I stumbled about to look for the Doctor.”

“That explains the cuts and bruises,” Wilf observed, looking at his granddaughter up and down.

“There was so much dust in the air I could barely see or breathe. It was horrible, but it didn’t hit me how bad this whole situation was until I found the Doctor’s body. He’d obviously been slammed against a mountain side during the blast. I’m not a medical professional but I looked him over quickly before trying to move him. His minor cuts and bruises I’m not concerned about. It’s that gash on his head and large lump in the back that I’m worried about. I’m forcing him to go to Martha as soon as he wakes up.”

“He’s not going to like that,” Wilf laughed. 

She allowed herself to genuinely smile for the first time since they’d left the TARDIS earlier that morning. “Well, he’s going to have to get over it. He needs a doctor. I’d have taken him to Martha first thing but my TARDIS driving skills are pretty limited.” 

“You lost that, then?”

Donna knew what he was referring to. She had been without her memories for about four months when the Doctor had discovered a way to recover her mind from the metacrisis. He hadn’t been able to remove the Time Lord part of her completely but he did repress it quite a bit. The only skill she had been left with was an extension on her already higher than average math abilities. All that other Time Lord knowledge, like TARDIS flight, had been removed in order to save her life. 

“Yeah,” she answered ruefully. 

Wilf took Donna’s hands in his, “Hey, you’ll learn to fly her again. And this time you’ll learn to do it without the Time Lord brain.” 

She smiled, “Sure I will, Gramps. Now come on, we’d better get back upstairs and see how Martian Boy is doing. I’m really worried about him.”

As she got up she winced.

“How’d you manage to carry him all that time?”

She sighed, “It wasn’t easy, but I managed,” she walked ahead of him on the stairway, “he may be a skinny alien but he’s a heavy, skinny alien.” 

She felt relieved to see that he hadn’t awoken in her absence. Crossing the room in a swift motion she took her seat back by his side and scooped up his hand again. She frowned as she noticed his hand was warmer than usual. Letting go of his hand again she leaned forward and felt of his forehead; it was also warmer than usual. 

“Everything alright, sweetheart?” Wilf asked, concern evident in his voice.

She shook her head slowly, “No, I don’t think it is. Gramps, I think I should have taken him to Martha in the first place. I’m sure I could’ve figured out how to get to her if I’d tried hard enough. I was just so tired from carrying him and this felt like the only solution at the moment,” she knew she was babbling. Panic coursed through her and she suddenly felt a pair of hands around her shoulders.

“Hey now,” Wilf shushed, “it’s alright. You did what you thought was best. It’s what I’d have done! Come on, you did good. He’d be proud of you.”

Looking at the Doctor in concern she made a quick decision, “Gramps, in the console room of the TARDIS there is a mobile phone. I think I left it on the jump seat. I want you to use it to call Martha, she should be on the recently called list. Tell her what’s happened and that we need to bring the Doctor to her right away. I’m going to get him to the car and we’re going to get him checked out. I’m too worried to wait for him to wake up.” 

Wilf looked as though he might protest but he instead nodded in response and left her to retrieve the mobile from the TARDIS. Focusing her attention back to the sleeping Time Lord she felt her heart drop into her stomach through the panic. What if he died? She thought back to those four months that she had forgotten his existence and shuddered. Never again. She couldn’t lose him again. 

Mustering all of her strength she wrapped one arm around his back and another around his front and tugged. Her own back was killing her from all of the carrying she had done that day but she ignored it to continue her mission. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to carry him all the way downstairs and almost all the way to the car but she didn’t quite care at this point. Spotting her grandfather walking out of the TARDIS she called out for him to come and help her the rest of the way. They placed him in the backseat as gently as possible and pulled out onto the road and on their way to Martha.

“She gave me this address,” Wilf told her as Donna looked in her mirror to check on the Doctor.

“Thanks Gramps,” she answered, taking the piece of paper from him and reading it. UNIT, she should have known. 

The ride to UNIT was quiet and Donna cursed herself the whole trip. How could she have been so thick? She should’ve tried taking him to Martha in the first place. She could see her grandad giving her a look out of the corner of her eye. She knew that he knew what she was thinking and she couldn’t face his caring eyes right now. No, right now she needed to be angry with herself. 

Pulling into UNIT she raced the car to where she saw Martha stand. She’d changed her hair since the last time she’d seen her. She also had a glow of happiness about her. No doubt from her new relationship with Mickey. Quickly scrambling out of the car Donna hugged Martha. Martha held Donna at arms-length and looked at her as if she thought she would never see her again. Then Donna realized that, that is exactly what Martha thought. 

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Martha said with a smile, “how is he?” 

Donna looked behind her at the Doctor’s faced leaned against the glass in the car, “Not good, I’m guessing Gramps told you what happened?”

“Yeah, let’s get him inside,” she answered. Two large men came out of the building and carried the Doctor inside. Donna was grateful that she wouldn’t have to carry him again.   
Her back was killing her. The room that they examined the Doctor in was bright and harsh. It made Donna cringe. After taking a few scans of his brain they allowed Donna to sit with the Doctor. Every time she touched his skin she felt her stomach drop because it didn’t feel right.

“Donna,” Martha called to her timidly from behind, “I’ve looked at the scans.”

Donna swallowed hard, “It’s not good is it?”

“I’m afraid not,” she dragged a chair to sit closer to Donna and the Doctor. Donna noticed that Martha put her hand on the Doctor’s knee and rubbed small circles with her thumb. She assumed Martha needed some sort of contact with the Doctor at this point. She braced herself. 

“He’s suffered a concussion. It’s not the worst I’ve seen but it’s certainly not as mild as I would like it to be. I’m not sure how long he’ll be like this,” she motioned to his motionless form, “but I’m afraid it’s a waiting game at this point.” 

Donna let tears fall for the first time that day. How long was he going to be comatose? A few days? Weeks? Years? She had no way of knowing. She looked away from the Doctor’s face to see that Martha was crying too. The two women hugged and cried for a while. Neither said much. When it began to get late Martha offered to drive Wilf home. Donna refused to leave the Doctor’s side and told Martha to go home and get some sleep. 

Settling in for the night Donna pulled her chair close to the Doctor’s side. Though it was uncomfortable she eventually fell asleep leaned against his side. She dreamt of dust and bombs. The Doctor’s voice echoed through her mind and it caused her to awaken abruptly calling his name. She gasped for air and grabbed her head in fear as she took in her surroundings. Looking down at him she saw that he was still sleeping. She sighed and buried her face in her hands. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been doing so because when she looked up again two brown eyes were staring back at her. 

Her hand flew to her chest as she gasped, “You’re awake! I can’t believe it!” 

She gathered him in her arms and hugged him tightly. She was somewhat afraid that her grasp might be too tight but she wasn’t ready to let go. However, she began to notice he wasn’t hugging her back, which was odd. The Doctor was a very affectionate alien. Donna liked to compare him to a puppy, which the Doctor acted like he hated but secretly loved, because he knew it was true. He just loved people. Releasing her hold on him she hovered above him.

“You know, you gave me quite the scare, Doctor,” she informed him as he continued to stare at her. His staring was making her quite uncomfortable and it made her shift slightly in discomfort. She experimentally laid the back of her hand to his forehead. It wasn’t as hot as it was earlier but still too high for a Time Lord. She noticed he was looking at her hand quite intensely. “Doctor, are you alright?”

Squirming out of her touch he shook his head, “Why do you keep calling me that?”

She snatched her hand back and looked at him with equal amount of confusion, “Calling you what?”

“Doctor. Why are you calling me, Doctor?” 

She looked at him as if he’d gone mad, “Cause’, that’s your name.”

“Is it?” he asked. He looked like a deer in headlights. 

“Yes,” she answered, “Doctor, you don’t remember your name?”

He shook his head no, “Where am I?”

She began to answer him when he interrupted her.

“And who are you?”

Tears pricked her eyes, “I definitely need to call Martha.”


End file.
